Gayle.

Well, we took the final plunge.....and gave away 3/4 of a bag of kibble and now it's all totally raw! Aside from table scraps that is. I realised the dogs hadn't had kibble in well over a month, and so when my son called in last night, I gifted him the almost full bag of Uncle Albers for his kelpie girl. He has no inclination to feed her anything other than kibble and canned food, but at least he's taken my advice and switched Pal for Natures Gift, and Pedigree kibble for Uncle Albers. But we are now kibble-free! Yay!

I don't know anything about Kelpies, but that's one seriously well-put-together pup. Even at 4 months, when most pups are pretty gangly and unpretty, he looks well balanced and co-ordinated.

One evening my husband was late home for dinner, so I put his plate in the fridge and left the table set for him, and covered the bread basket which contained garlic bread, with a cloth and left it on the table. When he got home, I mic'd his dinner and set it down for him, and was explaining I'd left the bread on the table and if he wanted it warm it would probably be OK in the microwave too. As I was talking I lifted off the cloth, only to find a completely empty basket.....not even a crumb left! Not sure which one was the thief, they both looked equally happy with themselves. Dusty will walk over hot coals for jelly lollies. They both love watermelon.

Michelle, we brought Benson home at 11 weeks, and Dusty came to us aged 8 weeks. To be honest, there was really very little difference, Dusty was just smaller. We socialised both of them from the day they came home, with lots of new experiences, sight, sounds, car rides, visits...and they are both fine. If anything, Benson has the better temperament (he is friendlier to strangers). I'm kind of "on the fence" as far as early desexing is concerned. Benson was desexed at 4 1/2 months because I'd promised the breeder he'd be done as soon as possible, and I haven't regretted it. He's all boy....he pees like a boy, he's built like a boy (big, broad chest and shoulders, big blocky head, sizeable paws) and he knows exactly what boys are supposed to do when girls smell nice. But I also understand that there's a bit of controversy over early desexing and if a boy dog comes my way again, I might look into it further. But had I said I'd not be getting Benson desexed until he was fully grown, I'd not have been able to buy the puppy. Simple as that.

They are supposed to eat the bones. My guys get bones for a lot of their meals. Ths morning they each had a fist sized brisket bone for breakfast. Tomorrow night, they will each get some raw chicken frames. Later in the week I have more brisket bones for them....big and small pieces. They regularly get non-weight bearing bones for meals. However, they rarely get the big heavy marrow bones as they are too hard for them to chew and can damage their teeth. If they get one, it's as a "toy" and not as a meal.

I buy a particular brand of cat food as a treat for our Maine Coon, as it has dried fish pieces in it (it's a supermarket brand but not one of the cheap ones). She gets it with her RC kibble and picks out the fish pieces and devours them. I thought it would be cheaper and easier to just buy dried fish for her and add it to the RC, but the anchovies in Coles were the only ones I could find. They were in the Chinese grocery section. I dare ya to do that to a piece of raw liver! LOL! That's definitely going above and beyond the call of duty.

What's the salt content on them, Huski? They have them in Coles here, just little packs but I was a bit apprehensive about how salted they are.

Pro Plan Selects. It's expensive, but my dogs absolutely loved it, to the point where I could use it as training treats. Also Eagle Pack Holistic. Could you also stock a cheaper, Australian made food as well? Uncle Albers, and The Great Barko are made by Laucke Mills in SA, and it's an excellent kibble.

There is a really good dog roll called Ecopet. I used to keep it on hand for emergencies when Benson was a puppy, and it contains all natural ingredients, no artificial anything and it smells very nice and has a really firm, meaty texture....unlike the supermarket rolls which tend to resemble damp polystyrene. I haven't bought it in ages, as my guys get mostly raw meaty bones now, but it was a good alternative when I'd forgotten to defrost something.

I have a dog that also likes to rip up beds, so he no longer has one he can rip up. At night, he sleeps on an old blanket on our bedroom floor....the blanket is folded up and put away during the day in case he gets the urge to tear into something. His "daybed" which resides on our back porch for him to rest his bones in while we're at work is a heavy duty plastic "tub" style dog bed. It's raised about an inch off the ground and it's ventilated with holes punched in the plastic. It's VERY durable, and serves the purpose of giving him somewhere off the cold concrete to lie out of the weather. I tried putting an old blanket in it, he just dragged it out into the mud so now he doesn't have anything in it and he's quite happy about it. He does use it a lot and seems quite comfortable with this arrangement.....and best of all, he can't rip it up!

They sure do. They go straight from the deli to the dog bowls.

Yeah, my guys get 2 each for a meal, I feed them if I can't get marylands for their Friday night special.

Dusty's dad does.....Gr Ch Ausbrand Limited Edition ET. And she is set to follow in her daddy's footsteps next year with her ET title (or attempt at it). It was Bensn's turn this year and we had an absolute blast. Good luck to everyone training for it! Setterlover, there was a Gordon Setter in the ET I did, we rode around a duck/swan/moorhen filled lake and the Gordon didn't bat an eyelid. Her owner was a bit worried she might react but she was good as gold.

I don't trim off any fat unless there are large visible chunks on chicken frames. Dogs need fat....it's concentrated energy and fairly essential for their welbeing, their coat health and in winter, their ability to keep themselves warm.

I don't remove it. I cut into chunks with the skin on, cook in the microwave until very soft, then mash and mix with the rest of the brew. The skin just breaks up into small pieces and gets mixed in too, along with the seeds.

I cut the offal up into small pieces (easiest done when it's half frozen) and mix it with mince, eggs, tinned fish, mashed pumpkin or sweet potato, cooked rice, grated carrot and green veges etc, and the dogs don't even realise it's good for them. They get this mixture about 3-4 meals a week. The rest of their meals are raw meaty bones from various animals. If the offal chunks are too big, Dusty very delicately picks them out and lays them down next to her bowl. The easiest way is to cut them small is to take a partially frozen block of offal, slice it very thinly then chop the slices into strips. By the time it's thawed, it's just about minced and she can't separate it from the mince.

Congrats to those who have just completed their ET. Benson and I did ours in July, after 6 months of training. I had to learn to ride a bike first, then teach him to run beside it. When we finished the ET, I walked on air. It was a fantastic feeling, I was so proud of my boy and so pleased with our efforts. And he looks wonderful with letters after his name! Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. I'll be doing it again next year with Dusty.

They sound like a really good breed for a child who wants a dog of their own. Would they be easy for a child (older child, late primary or young teen) to train in obedience? Would they make a good performance prospect? ie, agility, flyball etc.

Mine get bones every day.....they start their day with a chicken drumstick or lamb offcut, and often end it with a bowl of chicken pieces, lamb offcuts or some other raw edible bones. They have been eating bones since they were weaned. It's part of their daily diet. They have never choked, and I don't usually closely supervise. Occasionally, something will go down "the wrong way" (just like it does for us) and a cough will bring it back up. I wonder if this makes a difference. Being that they've had bones daily since they were tiny puppies, have they learned to manage bones safely, rather than being given bones as an adult and being expected to know what to do with them after a steady diet of kibble (which most dogs gulp down).

Chicken wings are high in fat and easy for puppies to eat.

Yep, same....it took them a good hour or more to get through most of them, then Benson had a chewed up "knuckle" left over that he kept trying to hide from Dusty. Eventually one of them ate it, cos I didn't find it when I was cleaning the house this morning. Tonight they are having big chunks of raw beef for their dinner. I am definitely going to patronise that butchers from now on, the meat is so much nicer than the supermarket and there's such a bigger variety...for us and for the dogs.

Lamb brisket bones are easy for puppies to manage and good for their oral health. Chicken wings are fine, although very high in fat so feed them sparingly if you're puppy is inclined to be a bit squishy. Some other ideas........tinned sardines in oil; eggs; raw carrots and apples for chewing on; whole raw drumsticks. Just introduce things gradually, just as you would for a human baby and eventually give the dog a wide variety of wholesome food.

I had to go to the local market after work as the chicken place there has the cheapest frames. While I was there stocking up on frames, marylands and some chicken kiev for the human family, I noticed a rather nice butchers in the same place. So we bought our weekly supply of dinner meat there (for us) and I got some raw pigs trotters for the dogs and about 5 kg of raw beef offcuts (all meat, no bone) for just a couple of dollars extra. I am rapt with the quality of the meat and I noticed lots of other cheap goodies there I can get for the dogs. Always exciting to have a new source of raw food. Actually it's kind of sad that I can get so excited about it.......such is the quality of my boring life! LOL! The dogs got the pigs trotters for dinner. They had an old rug each on the loungeroom floor and they stayed on their rugs while they ate their dinner. And they LOVED them! Definitely on the list for getting again. Did you know that if you're eating lollies (the jelly teddybear kind) and there's a dog hanging over your arm, and you give the dog a lolly.....it doesn't go away? Just thought I'd throw that in, in case anyone thinking "Oh if I just give her one she'll leave me alone" thinks that really works. Because it definitely doesn't. In fact, I now have two dogs hanging over my arms. Very difficult to type.

The question in my mind is did you let them give you after dinner kisses? Big sloppy ones?

That's pretty much what I did. While they were little, they got one meal kibble and one meal raw, then changed the kibble to a chicken drumstick in the mornings and their regular raw at night, with kibble 1-2 times per week replacing their evening meal. Now they have raw 99.9% of the time and are thriving. The only reason they'll be having kibble now is to use up what's left in the cupboard.